Category Archives: Africa News

At least 26 Coptic Christians were killed and 26 others injured earlier Friday when gunmen opened fire on a bus heading to the Monastery of St. Samuel the Confessor, located south of Cairo.

Gunmen opened fire on two buses and a truck carrying Coptic Christians in Minya, Egypt on Friday, killing at least 26, including children. Some 26 people were also injured in the attack.

The group of between eight and 10 gunmen, reportedly dressed in military uniforms according to eyewitnesses, approached the convoy in three four-wheel-drive pickup trucks before opening fire, according to local media reports and the Egyptian Interior Ministry. RT

Egypt strike terrorist camps in Libya

Egyptian fighter jets have struck militant camps following the deadly attack on Egypt’s Coptic Christians, President Abdel Fattah Sisi has announced. The strikes were carried out in eastern Libya, state television said.

Egypt’s president also vowed to continue striking bases used to train militants and who carry out terrorist attacks in his country, regardless of the camps’ location.

He also reiterated that the countries financing, training and arming terrorists should not get away unpunished.

“We will not hesitate to protect our people from the evil,” he said in a televised speech on Friday.

“Egypt will not hesitate in striking any camps that harbor or train terrorist elements whether inside Egypt or outside Egypt,” the al-Ahram news agency quoted Sisi as saying.

Egypt carried out six air strikes in Derna in eastern Libya, state television reported adding that it is where the militants who carried out the deadly attack on the Coptic Christians were trained.

Following the Libyan incursion, Egyptian armed forces released a short video which was aired on state television following the president’s speech. The voiceover in the army video said its air force carried out strikes on targets in Libya “after confirming their involvement in planning and committing the terrorist attack in Minya governorate on Friday.”

Egypt’s military said that the air strikes are ongoing, local media reports. RT

Share this:

ISIS has claimed responsibility for the bombings. 3 police officers were killed preventing the suicide bomber from entering the Alexandria church. The death count continues to rise.

Pope Tawadros had been at St. Mark’s in Alexandria and left before the blast to go to Tanta after hearing of the earlier blast there.

At least 38 people have been killed following two suspected suicide bombings at Coptic Christian services, Egypt‘s state television reported.

The first attack struck worshippers at a church in Tanta, outside Cairo. The second blast detonated outside the front doors of a church in Alexandria after three hero police officers prevented a suicide bomber from accessing the building.

According to General Tarek Atilya: ‘The explosion took place in the front rows, near the altar, during the mass.’ Witness Nabil Nader said: ‘I heard the blast and came running. I found people torn up… some people, only half of their bodies remained.’

More than 38 people have died in both attacks with in excess of 100 injuries.

A second blast happened outside a church in Alexandria killing 11 people and injuring a further 66, Egypt’s health ministry has confirmed.

In the second blast, a suicide bomber approached the church and detonated his vest after being stopped by police.

Three officers died after they prevented the killer from getting into the church and causing greater bloodshed.

Coptic Pope Tawadros II had said Mass in Alexandria before the explosion. DailyMail

Video: St. George’s in Tanta. The bomb was in “the front rows, near the altar, during the mass.” Some of the deacons seen in the video were killed or injured.

Share this:

Since the 1980s, the giraffe population has declined by as much as 40 percent.

Giraffe numbers around the world have dropped by almost 40 percent in three decades, leading conservationists to fear for the species’ survival.

The figures are released by The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) which reports the giraffe population as having decreased from between 151,702 and 163,452 in 1985 to 97,562 in 2015.

This decrease of between 36 and 40 percent has seen them move from the status of ‘Least Concern’ to ‘Vulnerable’ on the IUCN’s ‘Red List’ which monitors the conservation status of species.

Factors including a growing human population, expanding industries including mining, illegal hunting and civil unrest are all credited with contributing to their demise.

“In these war torn areas, in northern Kenya, Somalia, and Ethiopia in the border area with South Sudan, essentially the giraffes are war fodder, a large animal, extremely curious that can feed a lot of people,” Dr Julian Fennessy from the IUCN told BBC.

“The species in southern Africa, those numbers are increasing by two to three times over the last three decades,” Fennessy said. “But when you come up through East Africa, those numbers have plummeted some by up to 95 percent of the population in the case of the Nubian giraffe, in the last three decades alone.”

Fennessy added that people “are unaware that these majestic animals are undergoing a silent extinction.” RT

A fake video taken at a demolition site in Egypt shows a little girl with red stains on a white dress and bandages being interviewed about life in a war-torn Syrian city.

Five people in Port Said allegedly making fake videos purporting to show the wreckage of air strikes in the Syrian city of Aleppo have been arrested, the Egyptian Interior Ministry has said.

The videographer, his assistants and the parents of two children who appear in the footage were detained after police managed to trail the would-be camera crew to a building site awaiting demolition, a statement on Monday said.

The team reportedly admitted they had planned to distribute their work on social media, pretending it showed scenes of the injured and destruction in Aleppo, the embattled northern Syrian city which has just fallen back under government control after four years of fighting between the regime and Sunni rebels. Independent UK

Libya’s Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj earns €300m a year with the illegal trafficking of Libyans to Europe.

A new report has found Prime Minister of Libya, Fayez al-Sarraj, is directly benefiting from the migration from his country to Europe.

The research has suggested 300 million euros per year are generated from human trafficking and that amount represents the most substantial revenue to the cities controlled by Sarraj.

Admiral Enrico Credendino, the commander of the mission Eunavfor Med, and author of the report said the smuggling of human beings guarantees a turnover of between 275 and 325 million euro per year.

Mr. Credendino concluded the migration is a constant income for the Libyan leader while it remains a great strain on Italy.

He said: “As long as we continue accepting everyone arriving on boats, Sarraj will continue receiving money from criminal groups that push migrants to our shores.”

Commissioner Avramopoulos said: “If we compare Italy and Greece, said the Commissioner yesterday, up to 80% of migrants crossing the Aegean Sea are refugees, while 80 percent of those who arrived in Italy from the Mediterranean are illegal.”

The majority of migrant arriving in Italy are not from Syria, but from countries such as Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nigeria, Senegal, Gambia and Mali, experts have said. Express UK

Human traffickers contact the Italian coast guard in advance to receive support and to pick up their dubious cargo. NGO ships are directed to the “rescue spot” even as those to be rescued are still in Libya. The 15 ships that we observed are owned or leased by NGOs have regularly been seen to leave their Italian ports, head south, stop short of reaching the Libyan coast, pick up their human cargo, and take course back 260 miles to Italy even though the port of Zarzis in Tunis is just 60 miles away from the rescue spot. gefira

Refugee Inc.

Across Europe, ‘migrants’ are seen as a financial opportunity.

ORS Service, a Swiss company running migrant reception centres, is doing well. Run by London-based private equity firm Equistone Partners Europe Ltd, it now operates in Germany and Austria and recorded $99 million in revenue last year. ORS Service has thrived on Europe’s inability to cope with the refugee crisis. Independent UK

St. Mark’s Coptic Orthodox Cathedral is the seat of the Coptic Orthodox Pope. It is home to Coptic Pope Tawadros II. A bombing in Cairo’s main Coptic Christian Cathedral has killed at least 25 people, including six children, and wounded a further 35.

A bombing at Egypt’s main Coptic Christian cathedral killed 25 people and wounded another 35 on Sunday, according to Egyptian state television, making it one of the deadliest attacks carried out against the religious minority in recent memory.

The attack came two days after a bomb elsewhere in Cairo killed six policemen, an assault claimed by a shadowy group that authorities say is linked to the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood. Islamic militants have targeted Christians in the past, including a New Year’s Day bombing in Alexandria in 2011 that killed at least 21 people.

Egypt’s official MENA news agency said an assailant lobbed a bomb into a chapel close to the outer wall of St Mark’s Cathedral, seat of Egypt’s Orthodox Christian church and home to the office of its spiritual leader, Pope Tawadros II.

However, witnesses said the explosion may have been caused by an explosive device planted inside the chapel. Conflicting accounts are common in the immediate aftermath of attacks.

An Associated Press reporter who arrived at the scene shortly after the blast saw blood-stained pews and shards of glass scattered across the chapel’s floor. Men and women wailed and cried outside the chapel.

“I found bodies, many of them women, lying on the pews. It was a horrible scene,” said cathedral worker Attiya Mahrous, who rushed to the chapel after he heard the blast. His clothes and hands were stained with blood and his hair matted with dust.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Sunday’s attack.

Egypt has seen a wave of attacks by Islamic militants since the military overthrew President Mohammed Morsi, a freely elected leader who hailed from the Brotherhood, in 2013. Many of Morsi’s supporters blamed the overthrow on Christians, and several churches and other Christian-owned properties were ransacked in the aftermath.

The authorities have waged a sweeping crackdown in recent years, jailing thousands of mostly Islamist dissidents and killing hundreds in clashes sparked by demonstrations. AP

Human rights community outcry? Nope. It’s not “Islamophobia” so it is ok.

Christian children are being deprived of their education and being ousted from schools for refusing to wear a hijab, it has been revealed.

Schools across Egypt are forcing girls of every religion to wear the Muslim headscarf and children of both sexes are being punished if they cannot quote the Koran off by heart.

Even Muslim girls who refuse to wear a hijab are being forced out of school in a country where Coptic Christians have previously been able to live free of persecution.

Rahman Salem, 12, was ordered to leave her lesson and banned from taking part in any activities at her school in the Delta, northern Egypt. Other pupils gave her nasty looks and started leaving the Muslim girl out over the incident…

Last month another school in the same province of Sharqia put in force rules to make all female students wear a hijab, with the al-Nassiriya School’s headteacher posting a large sign saying Islam dress is now part of the girls’ uniform.

And Christian seven-year-old Viola Samir told how her Islamic religious studies teacher held eight Christian pupils in her class of 35 children back.

The teacher then beat anyone who had not learnt the Koran off by heart.

Usually, Christian students in Egypt move to a different classroom during religious studies classes where they learn about Christianity while Muslims stay and learn about Islam.

Viola’s father told Christian persecution website, World Watch Monitor: “When my daughter told the teacher that the extra texts were not part of the Arabic curriculum [which all students have to learn], she was severely punished by her teacher.

“The Christian religious studies teacher complained to the headmaster, but he took no disciplinary action against the Muslim teacher.

“In the end, the teacher allowed the Christian children to leave the class to join their Christian studies class.” ExpressUK

American Marc Turi was charged with selling weapons to Libyan rebels at a time when it was illegal to do so.

Turi was indicted in 2014 on charges of arms dealing in violation of the Arms Export Control Act and lying to the State Department in official applications, with prosecutors arguing that he falsely claimed the weapons were destined for Qatar and the UAE. DailyMail

An associate of Mr Turo’s told Politico: ‘They don’t want this stuff to come out because it will look really bad for Obama and (Hillary) Clinton just before the election.’

“The joint motion asks the judge to accept a confidential agreement to resolve the case through a civil settlement between the State Department and the arms broker.” Why a confidential agreement? This stinks! Another cover-up.

Government lawyers were facing a Wednesday deadline to produce documents to Turi’s legal team, and the trial was officially set to begin on Election Day, although it likely would have been delayed by protracted disputes about classified information in the case.

A Turi associate asserted that the government dropped the case because the proceedings could have embarrassed Clinton and President Barack Obama by calling attention to the reported role of their administration in supplying weapons that fell into the hands of Islamic extremist militants.

“They don’t want this stuff to come out because it will look really bad for Obama and Clinton just before the election,” said the associate.

In the dismissal motion, prosecutors say “discovery rulings” from U.S. District Court Judge David Campbell contributed to the decision to drop the case. The joint motion asks the judge to accept a confidential agreement to resolve the case through a civil settlement between the State Department and the arms broker. Full article at Politico

Poor Oversite – Weapons to Libya and Syria

In July, Turi told Fox News about the U.S. illegally supplying Libyan rebels with arms.

“When this equipment landed in Libya, half went one way, and the half went the other way,” Turi said, emphasizing that poor oversight, allowed individuals hostile to the United States to get arms. “The half that went the other way is the half that ended up in Syria.”

Turi provided Fox News with emails he exchanged – in early April 2011 – with Chris Stevens to alert him to the proposed weapons deal. The emails were previously cited by the New York Times. Fox News

A second Olympic boxer has been accused by a housekeeper in the athletes’ village of sexual assault.

Rio de Janeiro police say Namibia’s flag bearer has been arrested for sexual assault, four days after another Olympic boxer was accused of sexually attacking two housekeepers in the Olympic Village.

Authorities say a housekeeper told police she was assaulted by 22-year-old Jonas Junius, a boxer who competes in light-middleweight division. Junius was set to fight with French boxer Hassan Amzile on Thursday. ABC12

The arrest of Junius follows a similar incident last week, when boxer Hassan Saada from Morocco was arrested on sexual assault charges.

Hassan Saada

A Moroccan boxer was arrested after ‘attempting to rape two chambermaids in the Olympic Village’ in Brazil.

A Moroccan boxer has been arrested on suspicion of attempting to rape two chambermaids in the Olympic Village in Brazil.

Hassan Saada was detained by police this morning over claims he attempted to sexually assault the two women in the athletes’ accommodation at Barra de Tijuca.

The 22-year-old athlete will miss out of competing in the games following allegations that he sexually assaulting two Brazilian domestic maids at the Olympic Village.

Saada, married and a light heavyweight boxer, was taken to a police station close the Olympic Stadium where he was stripped of his Olympic competitor status. Detective Caroline Solomon of Recreio Police confirmed the athlete has been stripped of his credentials…She said the penalty, if convicted, is between six and 10 years…

Gaddafi’s British-educated and most Western-oriented son Saif, was released from death row in Libya earlier this year, his lawyer said, he still faces charges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity. Mr Khan told France 24. “He is well and safe and he’s in Libya.”

The former Libyan dictator’s second son “was given his liberty on April 12, 2016”, lawyer Karim Khan said Wednesday, adding that Saif al-Islam was released under an amnesty previously declared by the Tobruk parlement, the internationally recognised authority that governed part of Libya before the national unity government of Fayez al-Sarraj took over in March. According to the lawyer, this release was made “in accordance with (Libyan) law”.

Saif al-Islam, who was regarded as Gaddafi’s likeliest successor, had been held since 2011 by a militia in Zintan, in a mountainous western region beyond the control of authorities in the capital, Tripoli…

Saif al-Islam is also wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, which issued an arrest warrant in 2011 on preliminary charges of crimes against humanity, murder and persecution for being part of the inner circle of his father’s regime.

Khan said he would file an application to make the ICC case inadmissible, arguing that his client has already been tried by his home country.

Invoking the principle of “double jeopardy”, he said: “It is prohibited to try an individual twice for the same offense”.France24